Another '99 5th gen restoration

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by w3bdevil, Oct 2, 2019.

  1. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    The time has come. That is, the weather in Finland is starting to get so crappy that I decided to park my VFR for the winter. I did some planning in https://vfrworld.com/threads/planning-a-refresh-rebuild-on-a-99.57347/ and got some good advice too and now I'm slowly starting the project. Slowly because we've got a toddler to look after and the winter in Finland is long so I have plenty of time :) The target is to get my VFR close to original goodness and also add in some improvements as I will be doing some part replacements and/or mods too along the way. As already discussed in the planning thread, this might result in changing out parts that still have service life left and spending more money than absolutely necessary to make the bike essentially 'too good' for my needs but frankly, I don't care. It's not that I have so much extra money to shovel around but I like also the tinkering side of motorcycling and I like to do things as well as I can, especially when it comes to safety (brakes) and handling. I'd much rather be a mediocre driver on a bike that's 'too good' than a mediocre driver on a bike that's crappy. There will be some changes to looks too just for vanity.

    Because I've babbled already too long without any pictures whatsoever, here's a few from last night as I just started stripping things off.

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    Some of the previous owners have added an extra fuse box along with a wired intercom thingy and one slightly shoddy grounding point, a bolt + nut combination with 7 spacers in between through a hole in the subframe which didn't even have the paint scrubbed off. Might have contributed a bit of extra resistance in there. I'll have to fix some of the other wiring too. According to the prev owner the R/R is original but has the SH689DA been shipped originally for the 5th gens? I've heard the Motobatt batteries are of decent quality and this one is practically brand new so I'll be keeping it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2023
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  2. Rio800

    Rio800 New Member

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    Beautiful bike! I'm a new owner of a mint silver 98. Just stocking up parts for some nice winter projects too, including a 25kg gas bottle for the heater in my garage :)
    I'm doing the clutch master slave refurb, brake bleed, fitting front and rear dashcam, led switchback indicators and clear lenses, new fuse box, USB outlet, ram mount, soooo excited Haha.
    Keep us posted on the jobs plus any neat accessories or parts you find...
     
  3. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    My garage happens to be more than halfway underground and well insulated so it stays warm with very little heating. I already have so long list of stuff I'm planning to do this winter I'm starting to wonder whether I've bitten a bit more than I can chew :D Good luck with your project!
     
  4. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Some more stuff came off the bike.

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    Now I bet no one here has seen this before... Crispy but not yet completely toast. I measured the stator and the resistance between all 3 leads was less than 0,5 ohms, no continuity to ground. Anyway I think I'll open the cover and see what it looks like.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2023
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  5. VFRIRL

    VFRIRL New Member

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    Good luck with the refurb, that sargent seat looks great, wonder how much of a help that fan is on the reg/rec?
     
  6. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Thanks. I like to keep the looks simple so I even got the Sargent with black piping. I have no idea how effective a regular computer fan such as this is on the R/R. It wasn't even properly installed, only tied to place loosely with wire. I'll ditch the thing when installing a new mosfet type R/R.

    Started draining old fluids today with a vacuum type bleeder. I also took the coolant reservoir out of the way and it was so dark inside with dirt that it was impossible to even see the level.

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    Clutch reservoir was not that bad actually. Fluid is darkish and there is some dirt floating on it but I've seen much worse.

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    Some grime to clean... Clutch pin was in good shape, straight and all. Speedo roller is bright white since I had to replace it because previous owner had probably forced the cover shut with the roller not aligned when changing the sprocket so it was loose and speedometer was jumping all the time.

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    Clutch slave cylinder was not too shabby either, piston is moving quite well. I guess the prev owners have at least changed the fluids every now and then.

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  7. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Got a bit more done last night. Getting the airbox bottom out was a bit tricky at first but eventually got it away. Next the throttle body. I'm getting headache thinking how much cleaning there will be :D

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    Took the chain guards, chain and front sprocket off. I'll have to source a 46mm socket for the rear hub, haven't needed one so big yet anywhere.

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  8. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    On a side note, about those international delivery companies. Damn them all (and their messed up subcontracting schemes) to a place somewhere deep where there's fire and brimstone, dragons and russian made motorcycles. I ordered my new brake lines from the UK and they got sent by DPD with correct contact info and everything, business as usual. BUT, apparently DPD packages are carried in the nordics by PostNord who are using yet another local delivery company for actually moving the stuff around. With all this handing over the package to another party and yet another, my address was messed up so that the package ended up completely other side of the country. Despite my repeated attempts to correct the address (replies varied from "there's nothing we can do" to "yes, the package will be at your door shortly") they eventually failed and the package has been returned to the sender. Oh well, there's plenty of stuff to do before I even need the lines but still this kind of "customer service" just makes me furious. :mad:
     
  9. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Got the throttle body out. The inlet rubbers had turned rock hard and it took some time to wiggle the thing off. New ones ordered already.

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    Oh this'll be fun. There are signs of coolant leak already visible on the thermostat housing and some of the pipes feel dangerously brittle. While I took good care to block the inlets as soon as I got the throttle body out (and took this pic) it looks like some dirt got into one of the inlets. Would it be worth it to try to blow it clean with compressed air? Or would I just make it worse?

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  10. adk_finn

    adk_finn New Member

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    w3b - do you have a small attachment for your vacuum? I would give that a whirl to suck up the dirk in the inlets.

    also - that coolant weep looks pink/red - the factory spec coolant is blue (as are most of the generic offerings that are made for Honda).
     
  11. Terry Smith

    Terry Smith Member

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    That looks like a great project! My fear is that I will forget how things go back together so I tend to do jobs in bite-sized chunks and reassemble in between.

    Now that you are that far into the V, I'd suggest you replace the coolant hoses and the thermostat, and don't forget the small o-rings under the coolant elbows that bolt to the head. Good call on replacing the inlet rubbers for the throttle bodies as well, that will make reinstallation easier and lessen the worry about air leaks.
     
  12. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    That's a good idea, I'll try the vacuum to get the dirt away. The previous owner at least has used this pink ethylene glycol antifreeze, hence the colour.
     
  13. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    I try to tackle that by taking a ton of pictures about how everything is positioned and routed. There are also good diagrams available on how things fit. Yes, I have the hoses/thermostat/o-rings on order for reinstallation once I get everything cleaned up.
     
  14. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    I guess now it's time to thank GreginDenver and the sticky thread there for getting me to think about the state of 20 year old rubber parts and neglected maintenance. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

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  15. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    Get approx 150mm in length 5-6mm silicone tube & duct tape it to the outlet of the vac - IT WILL VAC UP EVERYTHING !!! I use medical tubing & it costs pennies...
     
  16. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    in fact just noticed the clear tubing from your brake bleeder - snip 150mm off as that will be fine for the job..
     
  17. GreginDenver

    GreginDenver New Member

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    Looks like the prior owner might have let the coolant go a little long between changes. Have you looked at the bottom of the water pump? The reason I ask is because the lubricating quality of the coolant affects how long the water pump shaft seal will last. So if the coolant is allowed to get really old the water pump shaft seal will wear. Look for evidence of "weeping" coolant from the little hole on the engine-side of the water pump (right at the point where the water pump slots into the side of the engine case).
     
  18. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Yep, I'll try this.

    You mean the mechanical seal inside the pump? Not yet but I'll take the water pump off next to see what it looks like. Do you have any experience on the coolant system flushing liquids? Or would flushing with tap water basically do the same thing? I was thinking about filling the system with either a flushing liquid or just fresh water and running the engine for a while, then changing to new coolant.
     
  19. GreginDenver

    GreginDenver New Member

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    The "driven" end of the water pump's impeller shaft is open into the engine oil of the crankcase, so this side of the shaft has an oil seal on it.

    The impeller end of the water pump's driven-shaft is open to the coolant, so this side of the shaft has a coolant seal on it.

    The water pump shaft's oil seal is a very long-lived item, I've never heard of one failing (in other words, VFRs never leak oil from this seal). The shaft's coolant seal is the one that fails (in other words, it's common to see an older VFR "weeping" a little bit of coolant from this seal). When the water pump coolant seal begins to fail you will start seeing evidence of little drops of coolant that have weeped from the little hole on the inside of the water pump.

    Here's a picture I took of the bottom of the water pump leak I had on my '99 5th Gen VFR:
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    I know that in this picture it looks like there are 2 holes in the bottom of the water pump, but really there's only 1 hole. The other is actually a paint mark (a dark green colored dot) that was applied to the water pump at the factory by an assembly technician or a quality assurance inspector.

    The real hole is the one where the blue-green colored coolant leak residue is located. This hole exposes the small section of the water pump shaft that falls between the oil-side seal and the coolant-side seal.
     
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  20. w3bdevil

    w3bdevil New Member

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    Ok, got it. There's no signs like that, looks good to me. I will also be replacing the water pump o-rings.

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    Here's what the stator looks like.

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    Rear end disassembled. Wasn't so bad, bearings and seals look good so I'll just clean and pack with grease. Cush drive rubbers were rock hard and will be replaced. The shock is a custom made Wilbers.

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    Today I took apart the brake calipers. They are actually in better shape than I anticipated, apparently the brake/clutch liquids have been changed more regularly than the coolant. The pistons were binding a bit though (especially the linked middle ones) and the rubber parts starting to go bad so sooner or later there would have been problems.

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